Favorite things 2011

Favorite acquisitions 2011:

1. iPod Touch: After wasting $30 on the terrible Aliens Infestation for the DS, I finally bought an iPod Touch. It's constantly in use by me, my wife, and my kids - - games, podcasts, and light websurfing. Currently $14-$35 off at Amazon.

-I use the Scosche Kickback case, which is $12 at Amazon.

-My favorite podcast is Marc Maron's WTF.

-For less than the cost of a single 3DS game, you can buy:
Reckless Getaway
Superman
Where's My Water
Fruit Ninja
Mirror's Edge
Jumppack
Rage
Scribblenauts
Sword and Sworcery
Angry Birds Seasons
Dragons Lair 2
The Simpsons (arcade)
Star Wars Falcon Gunner



2. Favorite Books and Comics:



Kate Beaton's Hark! A Vagrant. 41% off at Amazon.





Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. 27% off at Amazon.





The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. 40% off at Amazon.






Incognito by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. 32% off at Amazon.





Robin: Year One by Chuck Dixon, Scott Beatty, Javier Pulido and Marcos Martin. 20% off at Amazon.





Uncanny X-Force: The Apocalypse Solution by Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. 37% off at Amazon.





Hellboy, Vol. 9: The Wild Hunt by Mike Mignola and Duncan Fegredo. 32% off at Amazon.



3. Favorite Toy:



DC Universe Classics Sandman. $14 at Amazon. Also available at Entertainment Earth.



My Wishlist:


Batman: The Black Mirror by Scott Snyder, Jock, and Francesco Francavilla. 39% off at Amazon.





The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword available at Amazon.


My alltime favorite artbooks:


Fables Covers by James Jean:

Now, for the first time, the exquisite FABLES covers by James Jean, winner of multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards, whose diverse clients include Prada and Pepsi, are collected in one extraordinary volume!Perfect for any art-book library or FABLES completist, this volume includes never-before-seen sketch material, along with insightful commentary and remarkable insights into Jean's creative process. Also included is a afterword by celebrated FABLES writer/creator Bill Willingham. Designed and annotated by the artist, this deluxe, oversized hardcover includes ten vellum sleeve inserts, an embossed case and other fine art details that make FABLES: COVERS BY JAMES JEAN as elegant and unique as the FABLES covers themselves.

37% off at Amazon.






Essentially Odd: A Catalog of Products Created For and Sold at the 826 Stores:

One of the ways that 826 National funds its tutoring programming is by running storefronts in each city. Essentially Odd is a catalog of innovative and humorous products designed for and sold in the storefronts of 826 tutoring centers. Items include Scurvy-Be-Gone and Peg Leg Oil from the Pirate Store and Speed of Light (in a can) and a Secret Identity Kit from the Superhero Supply Company. The catalog also features notes and anecdotes about the design process from designers and artists with an introduction to 826 National’s programs and facts about each center. Contributors include by Sam Potts, Dave Eggers, Chris Ware, Colorquarry Design, Stefan G. Bucher, Studio Rayolux, Suhail Design, Work AC, Office Design, and more.

$12 at Amazon.





I Could Tell You But Then You Would Have to Be Destroyed By Me: Emblems from the Pentagon's Black World:

I COULD TELL YOU. . . is a bestselling collection of more than seventy military patches representing secret government projects. Here author/photographer/investigator Trevor Paglen explores classified weapons projects and intelligence operations by scrutinizing their own imagery and jargon, disclosing new facts about important military units, which are here known by peculiar names (“Goat Suckers,” “Grim Reapers,” “Tastes Like Chicken”) and illustrated with occult symbols and ridiculous cartoons. The precisely photographed patches—worn by military personnel working on classified missions, such as those at the legendary Area 51—reveal much about a strange and eerie world about which little was previously known.

$11 at Amazon.






In Smog and Thunder: Historical Works from the Great War of the Californias:

What if the rivalry between San Francisco and Los Angeles erupted into civil war? Drawing on images and icons of contemporary culture as well as European and Latin American art history, Sandow Birk’s paintings reflect a meditation on cultural identity, nationality, and history. The book comes with a CD of songs from this imagined war and features 16 pages of new posters.

$25 at Amazon.